Isildur1 is Viktor Blom

Font size:

Who is Isildur1? That’s the question the poker world has been asking for more than a year. Well the wait is finally over. PokerStars is proud to announce that recent Team PokerStars Pro addition Isildur1 is 20-year-old Swedish pro Viktor Blom.

Poker fans have speculated for more than a year about the identity of online phenom Isildur1, with Viktor Blom being the firm favourite. The debate was finally settled at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, on Day 1a of the $10,000 Main Event, when Blom entered the tournament area wearing the iconic PokerStars patch.

Blom entered the tournament arena to loud celebration and flashing cameras as he sat down to play a live heads-up exhibition match against fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier. The two players brought $10,000 each to the table to play a game of $25/$50 No Limit Hold’em, which quickly escalated to $50/$100 with $20,000 in reserve for each. Much to the delight of the gathered crowds, Blom kicked off his PokerStars career in style by beating ElkY.

Blom interview

In an interview published on the PokerStars Blog, Blom explained why he chose to join PokerStars: “It's the biggest site – they do things right... You can find every game on the site, from one cent to really high stakes. I really like to play the best and improve – that’s why I joined Team PokerStars.”

Blom is now targeting live success in 2011, but realises he has to continue improving. “I need to learn to be more patient. I need to learn to let go of some more hands,” he said. “I want to have some good live results and maybe win an EPT.”

Rising star

It was only just over a month ago that Isildur1 joined the ranks of Team PokerStars Pro and the focus of the poker world has been on him ever since. On December 19 he played his first SuperStar Showdown match against Isaac Haxton and was a $41,000 loser. But on January 2 he stormed back to beat Tony G in a second match, winning $44,820 over 2,500 hands of No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha.

PCA Main Event

Blom is now set to play Day 1b of the $10,000 PCA Main Event with the poker world waiting to see whether he can go deep in his first appearance as a Team PokerStars Pro. The young Swede already has one live tournament cash to his name after he finished 16th in last year’s World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for £33,582. He’ll be hoping to add a few zeros to that this week with the first prize of the PCA Main Event expected to be more than $2,000,000.